Career Resources for Young People
With the youth unemployment rate hovering around 16 percent, there’s a national need for resources that help teens and young adults explore careers, identify education options, and search for jobs. There are many general career and job search resources available. However, young people have unique career planning needs not always met by adult-focused materials. For instance, while adults often have a good idea of the types of careers they want to pursue, teens are candidates for step-by-step assessments and career exploration. Similarly, adults often have past job search and employment experiences to draw on, while young people benefit from more detailed information about the job-search process.
The U .S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration (DOL/ETA), provides resources specifically designed to meet these needs for youth.
CareerOneStop’s Get My Future section is designed for high-school students, parents, and career advisors. The website includes four key topics with links to relevant resources and information:
- Identify your Interests helps students understand their skills, interests, and talents — and see how they fit with specific careers.
- Explore Careers enables students to research occupations and industries and ask critical questions such as: What fields are likely to have the most openings? Which jobs might be the best fit for me? and How much money could I make?
- Get Work Experience offers resources to help plan a successful job search with a focus on resumes, interviews, internships, and more.
- Find Education Options includes information on how education pays off, where to find the right programs and schools, and how to pay for college or training programs.
O*NET’s My Next Move is a career exploration tool designed for young people and those entering the workforce for the first time. Users select from one of three starting points:
- "I want to be a . . ." lets users search careers by keyword;
- "I'll know it when I see it" prompts users to browse careers by industry;
- "I'm not really sure" leads users through an online interest profiler and then suggests careers at match their interests and training.
Both of these resources introduce young people to the full array of occupation and industry information available through the U.S. Department of Labor. Young people can find information such as career descriptions, wages, employment projections, and special categories for careers that may grow rapidly, have large numbers of openings, or are related to the green economy. Both resources are also easily navigated by youth of all education levels.
In addition, the User Guide leads young job seekers through the websites listed above and other DOL/ETA resources for youth.
Also be sure to access the many resources made available in WebJunction's Workforce Services section.